planes

I’m not much for flying. Part of it is that I have a deep an abiding fear of heights (so, naturally, I always try to climb things). Part of it is that I have a deep and abiding annoyance towards being stuck in an airport staring at the monitors and seeing that my flight is still canceled.

Recent times have seen serious problems for airlines. Some have failed. Some are bleeding cash. Some have planes that didn’t quite pass the safety standards. All in all, it looks bad.

One problem is that our air transport system is simply not up to the task. What is needed is a better management system and perhaps more airports. Since air travel is an important social good, it seems acceptable to (as is often done anyway) to use tax dollars to help fix this problem correctly.

Another problem is that airplanes are expensive to operate…and so are CEOs. While the airlines really do need to do some major interior housecleaning, what would help with some of the expenses is a better sort of airplane. Of course, designing a plane with the suitable features would be costly and equipping airlines with them would also be costly.

Perhaps this is a situation that will require a major, national fix. It will, of course, be costly. But, as noted above, air travel is an important part of the economy for both goods and people. Alternatively, we might need to reduce our reliance on jets and find a more economical alternative. While trains have been put forth as an option, they also have their problems-such as putting in rails, stations and such.

I do suspect that this will remain a major issue for quite some time. My hope is that someone will find a way to revolutionize rapid travel once more. Going from trains to planes was a major change. The next change might be back to trains, or something new.